Saeed and Milad, two art students living a carefree life in Damascus, decide to join the Syrian revolution. They move to the conservative, working-class suburb of Douma, liberated from Assad regime control. Once there, they capture Douma’s transformation over four years of liberation, war, siege and hunger.
Surviving a chemical attack on neighbouring Ghouta and following the death of a friend, they revive an art project, painting graffiti on the devastated walls of the city. Capturing 500 hours of footage, they confront questions of life and death, peaceful revolution and armed struggle, cameras and guns, and art in times of destruction
In Arabic and English with English subtitles.
Co-director Saeed al-Batal will participate in a post-screening Q&A.
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Bidayyat [Beginnings] in Syrian Revolutionary Non-fiction: Three revolutionary nonfiction Syrian films from Beirut-based production hub Bidayyat, each followed by post-screening discussions with the filmmakers.
This series is copresented by World Records and the Toronto Arab Film Festival.
Supported by the Jackman Humanities Institute’s Program for the Arts and the Cinema Studies Institute at the University of Toronto.
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